Mini Ramp

A Mini Ramp also called Jump Pads is a small panel that, when driven on, makes Karts shoot up into the air. They are placed usually in front of large gaps on the track to aid players in clearing the obstacle. Although they can be helpful for evading holes and lava, Mini Ramps can also have a more sinister role in races... a few of them can makes players miss Item Boxes, an some even propel players straight off the road.

Contents

In the first Mario Kart game, Mini Ramps serve mainly as a hindrance in tracks. Solitary Item Blocks in the middle of courses sometimes have Mini Ramps directly in front of them, making it annoyingly hard to score an Item. A well timed Hop over the Mini Ramp can gain players an Item, though. A couple of tracks that contain Jump Pads are Bowser Castle 4 and Ghost Valley 2, the latter one famous for the Zipper in front of it propelling players sky high above the lone Item Block. Also, using a Mushroom right before a Mini Ramp will make players shoot up even higher than with a Feather.

Description

The first version of Mini Ramps look like long and thin golden bars that slightly curve up but not too much. They kind of resemble yellow speed bumps, and really, the only difference between the two is that speed bumps don't make you defy gravity.

The next game that Mini Ramps appear in is Mario Kart: Super Circuit, where they play a much more helpful role than in the previous one. Tracks such as Bowser Castle 2 have many ditches of molten lava that require a Mini Ramp to pass, and Broken Pier, a course bolstering with cracks and treacherous turns, boasts many risky yet worth it Mini Ramps to take small little shortcuts. The GBARainbow Road, however, employs Mini Ramps in a horrendous way- they are the freakin' WALLS of the track! Almost the entire colorful roadway is lined on both sides with them, and a wrong maneuver or a misused Mushroom can send you flying into space. More daring racers put them to good use in Time Trials and even Grand Prix by using them as mega-shortcut takers; after all, walls don't stop you now...

Description

Very similar to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System ones, these Jump Panels are golden (but a bit duller) and slope about 10 degrees up. A more visible white line down the center can be seen on them now, though.

A retro course of GBA Bowser Castle 2 returns Mini Ramps. There's quite a few of them throughout the track, and once again, they are mainly used to hop over lava. A few of them will send you perilously into the molten rock, though.

Description

The newer Mini Ramps take on a very colorful appearance, as they are now rainbow colored and cycle through the colors, very similar to how Dash Panels look. Also, they are raised to about 45 degrees, so you go a bit higher. Sky Garden's remake also returns them.

The latest Mini Ramps are seen in Mario Kart Wii, in SNES Ghost Valley 2 and GBA Bowser Castle 3. They do exactly as they did in the original track version, except the SNES Ghost Valley 2 Mini Ramp makes players go a bit more higher and you can perform tricks off them.

Description

Like the Super Mario Kart Zippers, all of the Mini Ramps in Mario Kart Wii go back to their original appearance of a golden bar. The ones in GBA Bowser Castle 3 also look like SNES Mini Ramps.

Trivia!

Players sometimes wrongly think that Mini Ramps grant speed; all they do is make you jump.

The ones in Mario Kart DS are an exception- they grant a microscopic boost of speed, too small to compare to a racer who didn't drive over one.

In Mario Kart DS, Mini Ramps make a whooshing sound when you drive over them.

Ramps and raised Dash Panels are sometimes confused with Mini Ramps. The difference between a ramp is that the elevation solely makes the player jump into the air, and a risen Dash Panel gives players a lot of Speed.